The Emerald Lie Ken Bruen the Godfather of the modern Irish crime novel Irish Independent is beloved for his black humor verse like prose and irascible protagonist Jack Taylor an ex cop who is as addicted to tr
Ken Bruen, the Godfather of the modern Irish crime novel Irish Independent , is beloved for his black humor, verse like prose, and irascible protagonist Jack Taylor, an ex cop who is as addicted to trouble as he is to Jameson, pills, and pop culture.In The Emerald Lie, the latest terror to be visited upon the dark Galway streets arrives in a most unusual form a CambridKen Bruen, the Godfather of the modern Irish crime novel Irish Independent , is beloved for his black humor, verse like prose, and irascible protagonist Jack Taylor, an ex cop who is as addicted to trouble as he is to Jameson, pills, and pop culture.In The Emerald Lie, the latest terror to be visited upon the dark Galway streets arrives in a most unusual form a Cambridge graduate who becomes murderous over split infinitives, dangling modifiers, and any other sign of bad grammar Meanwhile, Jack is approached by a grieving father with a pocketful of cash on offer if Jack will help exact revenge on those responsible for his daughter s brutal rape and murder Though hesitant to get involved, Jack agrees to get a read on the likely perpetrators But Jack is soon derailed by the reappearance of Emily previous alias Emerald , the chameleon like young woman who joined forces with Jack to take down her pedophile father in Green Hell and who remains passionate, clever, and utterly homicidal She will use any sort of coercion to get Jack to conspire with her against the serial killer the Garda have nicknamed the Grammarian, but her most destructive obsession just might be Jack himself.
The Emerald Lie A Jack Taylor Novel Jan , The Emerald Lie is pure Bruen, with its verbal tics, weird typography and unorthodox wordplay Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review No one writes crime novels quite like Ken Bruen He has tinkered with the classic building blocks of the novel, rearranging things here and there and creating a narrative that becomes unique book by book . The Emerald Lie Jack Taylor, by Ken Bruen The Emerald Lie feels like an artistic and literary representation of Cubism with a dash of Surrealism This is typical of the Jack Taylor series and the Irish author Ken Bruen. The Emerald Lie Grove Atlantic The Emerald Lie is pure Bruen, with its verbal tics, weird typography and unorthodox wordplay Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review No one writes crime novels quite like Ken Bruen His style takes on the qualities of a somewhat disjointed soliloquy that one The Emerald Lie A Jack Taylor Novel Bookreporter Sep , This is particularly true with regard to Bruen s long running and irresistible Jack Taylor literary series there is also a television series available on Netflix , of which THE EMERALD LIE The Emerald Lie Ken Bruen Nov , From the Godfather of the modern Irish crime novel Irish Independent , The Emerald Lie introduces a villain of the most unusual type an Eton and Cambridge graduate who becomes murderous over split infinitives, improper punctuation, and any other sign of bad grammar. The Emerald Lie Book Jefferson County Public Library The Emerald Lie A Jack Taylor Novel Book Bruen, Ken Vigilante antihero Jack Taylor, along with his lethal new sidekick Emily and a troublesome lovable pup named Storm, take on a serial killer with a singular fixation bad grammar. The Emerald Lie Book Chicago Public Library The Emerald Lie Book Bruen, Ken Ken Bruen, the Godfather of the modern Irish crime novel Irish Independent , is beloved for his black humor, verse like prose, and irascible protagonist Jack Taylor, an ex cop who is as addicted to trouble as he is to Jameson, pills, and pop culture.
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The Emerald Lie ¦ Ken Bruen
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Ken Bruen
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Title:
The Emerald Lie ¦ Ken Bruen
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Published :2019-04-04T13:15:28+00:00
Ken Bruen, born in Galway in 1951, is the author of The Guards 2001 , the highly acclaimed first Jack Taylor novel He spent twenty five years as an English teacher in Africa, Japan, S.E Asia and South America His novel Her Last Call to Louis Mac Niece 1997 is in production for Pilgrim Pictures, his White Trilogy has been bought by Channel 4, and The Guards is to be filmed in Ireland by De Facto Films.He has won Two Shamus awards by Private Eye Writers of America for the best detective fiction genre novel of the year for The Guards 2004 and The Dramatist 2007 He has also received The Best series Award in February 2007 for the Jack Taylor novels from The Crime Writers Association
674 Replys to “The Emerald Lie”
The Jack Taylor series, which I have read from the beginning, is one of the most original and creative series being written today. The language is coarse, raw, sarcastic and cynical. Jack Taylor, ex garda has lost everyone close to him, either through death or their disillusionment of the broken down man he has become. Yet, he has a strong streak of loyalty, of justice and once he sees something wrong he is unable to let it go. Yet, he is big reader and his stories feature quotes from authors, m [...]
I first encountered the work of Ken Bruen when I read Tower, a book he co-wrote with Reed Farrel Coleman. It comprised two complimentary tales blending Coleman’s somewhat gentle style of noir crime fiction with Bruen’s more brutal approach. I was immediately attracted to the Irishman’s style but it's taken me a few years to get around to dipping into his work again. This time I up picked up the latest story featuring his Galway based policeman (they call them Guards in Ireland) Jack Taylor [...]
The Emerald Lie feels like an artistic and literary representation of Cubism with a dash of Surrealism. This is typical of the Jack Taylor series and the Irish author Ken Bruen. I adore this book, which is less about crime, more philosophical and literary ruminations, with a damning indictment on the state of Ireland, There is bone deep anger with the political hogwash and sell out of the people peddled by the Irish government. The hypocrisy and abuse perpetrated by the Church is underlined merc [...]
To get the full oeuvre of this book I suggest you do yourself a favour and read the full Jack Taylor series, but if you're feeling lazy as least check out Green Hell first.Life has never been easy for Jack Taylor and in this 12th instalment we find him both physically and mentally beaten up. With his body breaking down, his close friends in the grave and his utter disgust with the hypocrisy of the church and the Irish government, Taylor seems to be at an impasse, trying to decide whether to keep [...]
The Ken Bruen series about the life of Jack Taylor (Irish p.i.), now reaches #12 in the series with the publication of "The Emerald Lie". This book at first appears to be a direct sequel to the previous book titled "Green Hell". It kind of is yet it mostly isn't. Jack Taylor has been beaten up so badly so many times in previous installments of the series that he now has two smashed unusable fingers, walks with a limp and has a hearing aid. He still loves his books, his music and his Irish politi [...]
This is my first Jack Taylor and it was a real eye opener. It is about a hard boiled old time former Garda (police) man told in sparse language. It reminded me of Robert Parker's Spenser series. It takes one well written sentence to convey what it takes other authors 2 paragraphs to describe. This is not really a mystery but more of a soliloquy of what goes on in Jack Taylor's mind. He quotes widely from literature and great songs. He comments on current news like the despised water tax. What ot [...]
ARC Received courtesy of First Reads GiveawayI hadn't read anything by Ken Bruen until I read "The Emerald Lie". I will definitely be going back to read some of the other "Jack Taylor" novels that he has written. I loved the premise of this novel, a serial killer is on the loose killing people because they have poor grammar. His nickname is "The Grammarian". The search for the serial killer took a backseat to Jack's life in this novel. The reader can almost feel his weariness at the world of cr [...]
As with the previous books in this series, The Emerald Lie reads more as a character study than crime novel, with Jack, the glue that binds Bruen's noir enriched world of fiction together. Well known for being a drunkard and not one to shy away from drugs and violence, Jack once again dons the tried and true persona to great effect. His nonchalance customary to the crimes he takes as cases, yet he yields results inadvertently by virtue of proximity, luck, and shear will. The Grammatical killer, [...]
Astounding.Best entry in the Jack Taylor series in call it a couple of months.If you've read any of the Taylor novels by Ken Bruen, you gotta read this.Mandatory reading.Brilliant plus he name checks Boston Teran and James Lee Burke.12 stars because of your basic long form poetry.
Is there a more depressing character in crime fiction than Bruen's Jack Taylor? Reading a Ken Bruen book is like running a marathon to the sound of a machine gun. Quick chapters, fluid plot lines, social commentary and lots of heart are all elements of a Ken Bruen/Jack Taylor story and this one fits in well with the others.
I hadn't read anything by Ken Bruen in some time. One summer in Paris, I found an English language book store on the Left Bank that is , alas, no longer open. I picked up about three of his books and devoured them while hanging out in cafes. I liked them very much, and so was delighted when my brother brought over " The Emerald Lie" to read. My point is a number of years have elapsed since I first read and thoroughly enjoyed them.Bruen embraces Irish noir crime themes which is hard to resist. An [...]
Jack Taylor is to Galway what Harry Bosch is to Los Angeles if Bosch was an alcoholic ex cop who sub references popular culture more than actively working to solve cases. I don't mean to disparage Jack but a steady diet of Jameson's Irish Whiskey chased by slow poured Guinness might tend to diminish one's skills as a private investigator of sorts. No matter though, since Jack is all about taking care of a puppy, reading crime fiction and aging until he's interrupted by the return of the essentia [...]
Jack Taylor is back, the addled, addicted and ever fascinating off the books private eye is maintaining enjoying the company of his new puppy when the enigmatic Em returns. Her schizophrenia leads he to don many guises including one that channels Lisbeth Salander and Carol O'Connell's Mallory. She wants Taylor to look into the case of The Grammarian, a serial killer who is murdering people who do not speak correctly. The narrative is split between Jack's personal life: falling off the wagon, dec [...]
Bruen never fails. Here again, with his usual blend of verse prose, horror, humor, great characterization and cultural references from TV, music, books and movies. And shot through with appropriate quotes from literature, drunken nights and beatings.There are two murder plots, one dismissed rather quickly, the other being The Grammarian, who casually murders abusers of the language.But overshadowing all is the return of Emilie/Emerald in her various guises, who is the true horror of The Emerald [...]
GiveawayI have seen a few of the TV versions of the Jack Taylor stories but this is the first book I've read. Dark and edgy with flashes of wry humor make for a terrific read. Since I have not read the previous books there were a few holes in my understanding of Emily/Emerald but Bruen manages to bring us new readers along just fine.
The best, the darkest Jack Taylor yet.
WOW! Ken Bruen has once again taken us by the throat on an exhilarating journey into the dark life of Jack Taylor. We are given a slightly closer look at the ghosts that define Jacks existence and I thoroughly enjoyed the view
3.5 stars"I looked back & he was gone. I thought, not for the first time, that he was mostly fiction, a rumor pretending to be relevant." Just to put it out there, I'm a big fan of this author. I read about 120 books a year & "Green Hell" made my Top Ten list for 2015. So when I heard Emily was returning in book #12 of the Jack Taylor series I couldn't wait to get my grubby mitts on a copy. This is a very different read. Yes, there are bad guys who run the gamut from smarmy to sociopath [...]
A novel by Ken BruenJack Taylor, the drunken, foul-mouthed, iconoclastic former police officer, and “hero“ of “The Emerald Lie,“ is a finder in Galway, Ireland. And he is at war with everyone and everything there. First hired to extract revenge for the murder of a young woman, he gets beaten to a pulp by the suspects henchmen. Miraculously the villain winds up dead, and the grieving father credits Jack with the hit. Next, he undertakes a case that, if successful, will exonerate a man who [...]
World class cynic Jack Taylor goes on a memorable and raging booze fueled rant throughout book 12 of this series. Always brimming with sarcasm, he skewers government, religion, popular culture, political correctness and more while engaging in his fearless and violent brand of vigilantism. When a character is literally driven to murder by rampant public misuse of language, it sets up either a horrific or horrifically funny storyline depending on your tolerance for the really dark stuff. Not recom [...]
Jack Taylor is no Reacher. The first three titles in this series had me bouncing in my seat cheering the hero on. Not only were they tough guy steel, but they didn't give a f---. I am sure they offended a whole city of weak sisters, but they were gold to me. Only the first three Charlie Huston novels have gripped me that hard. Probably as interesting to me as the stories were the countless references to strong fiction. I have followed those references and been enriched. This title is not as good [...]
I love this series. It isn't for everyone - Jack is a sad sorrowful character. What I do like about Jack is his honesty about his life/choices, and the situations he finds himself in. But he lives a brutal life and for some - it can be hard to read. As Jack battle's his demons (he almost always loses) he will take an occasional PI job - In this case he has two - he's hired by the father of a girl who was brutalized and murdered to help the father and his friends get their own justice - he's also [...]
The narrative of The Emerald Lie is a web spun by a spider on LSD. Threads of intermittently coherent ramblings, reminiscent of the mutterings of a late aunt who had a touch of dementia and lots of opinions at least we supposed there were opinions in there somewhere. Hard to tell, really.This is one hard-to-follow book. Being generous, One might suppose it's written this way to give us a feel for the incoherent ramblings of a drug-addled drunk, i.e protagonist, Jack Taylor. Points for verisimil [...]
If you haven't read a Ken Bruen-Jack Taylor mystery --you must. If you have, any review is superfluous. The only thing left is "How does he do that"? Being Irish helps--especially with the black humor and Jack's beaten down position. Still, he can write a whole chapter in three pages and crack you up with his selections of quotes while spinning a perfectly logical mystery. Oh-and since this is a very recent book, I take his selection of cultural references as evidence of my superior taste in tv [...]
Another funny and unpleasant Jack Taylor novel from Ken Bruen, whose habit of playing around with the spacing of the text is getting pretty tediousAnd if he keeps larding the things up with references to contemporary detective fiction and television shows, they will not have much staying power.Bruen reminds of me James Ellroy (the earlier Ellroy, not the later ones where he's trying to be Dom DeLillo). Vivid language, compelling characters, uncompromising nastiness.The ending is a little, er, am [...]
THE EMERALD LIE. (2016). Ken Bruen. **.This is Bruen’s latest book featuring the ex-Garda character, Jack Taylor. Somewhere in this book there is likely a story with a plot. I couldn’t find it. Bruen fell back on more asides and taradiddles as he moved through the book to the point that the story became embroiled in the briars. There was also a character – a young woman – named Emerald, or Emily. She was a girlfriend of Taylor for a while, but it apparently didn’t work out. There was a [...]
Perhaps it's the shotgun style or the very short chapters that begin with perplexing quotes, but this was not an easy book to read. Or perhaps one tires of alcoholic former policemen who self-destruct as they hurt those who could care for them. This is the literary equivalent of taking a downer. Yet is has a lyric Irish self-depreciating atmosphere that is genuine and original and is, at least in some ways, endearing.
4.5 -- would have been 5 but loses focus by the endClassic Bruenplus - grammar murders (perfect for post-marking haze)- great quotes :"Never judge a dog's pedigree by the kind of books he does not chew" -- don't even know what he's talking about, but I love it- generous and totally unexpected shout-out to Miriam Toews (which book? well clearly not one of the jolly ones)- subtle author cameo towards the end
I received this arc from Netgalley. As I've read other books by this author, I was excited to get this arc. This book was a major disappointment. This should be titled either 'The book of quotes' or 'Jack is an incompetent drunk'. A jumbled mess that goes nowhere. There is zero excitement here, just a mind-numbing mess.I would go more in depth but I don't want to spoil it for others. I definitely recommend you give this one a pass.
Contrary to all reason, Jack Taylor continues to limp around the sodden streets of Galway with his pet dog, trailing a vaporous fog of Jameson, in this 12th installment of Bruen’s most popular series. Taylor continues to find himself in all manner of misadventures, in this instance including a serial killer whose fuse is lit by bad grammar. As ever, Bruen continues to delight with black humor and a prose style as effervescent as the bubbles in a freshly poured Guinness.